Australian jobs market is far worse than official data suggests

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As I noted yesterday, this week’s ABS employment data for March is likely to be near useless for getting an accurate read on the Australian labour market in the wake of the Wuhan coronavirus lock down. This is because the March ABS survey will capture only the first half of the month. Therefore, it will miss the sharp deterioration that took place over the second half of the month as Australia went into shutdown.

This deterioration has been illustrated by Roy Morgan Research, which reported a sharp rise in its unofficial unemployment rate over the second half of March:

Callam Pickering, economist at global jobs site Indeed, has also recorded a 50% fall in job ads versus the same time last year:

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About the author
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.